GUERNSEY have topped their group and if they maintain their 100% winning record in ICC World Cricket League Six today, they will earn promotion. The Sarnians did not hit the heights of their previous two performances when they faced Suriname at Halstead yesterday, but they showed a lot of character to earn a 44-run win, which was tighter than the final margin of victory suggests. Not helped by several self-inflicted wickets, Guernsey posted 239 all out from their 50 overs when they were looking for something in excess of 250. While Suriname opener Muneshwar Patandin was at the crease, his side were in with a good chance of chasing down their opponents’ total, but just after he reached a deserved hundred, a sharp piece of work by Jason Martin behind the stumps dismissed the left-hander and the pressure told on the rest of the Suriname batting line-up. They were bowled out for 195.
Guernsey will now face Norway in today’s semi-final at Frinton, with promotion to Division Five the big reward for the winners as well as the chance to play in Sunday’s final at the County Ground in Chelmsford. ‘It was nice to get a close game under our belts and for a young side we showed some experienced heads out there,’ said Guernsey all-rounder David Hooper, who was named man of the match for his 55 and three wickets, including that of the danger-man Patandin. ‘Tomorrow is virtually our final.’

GUERNSEY needed a spark and Jason Martin provided it with a moment of magic yesterday at Halstead. The Sarnians had been far from their best throughout their match with Suriname, a clash between the two unbeaten sides in group A of the ICC World Cricket League Division Six which would decide who would top the pool and earn, on paper, the easier semi-final today. Having set a decent, but not as high as they would have hoped, score of 239, things were in the balance as Suriname opener Muneshwar Patandin put together a brilliant hundred to give his side a good chance of victory. It was obvious from an early stage that his was to be the key wicket, but he hardly gave Guernsey a sniff of a chance during an innings in which his driving through the covers was particularly devastating, although he was strong all around the wicket. In fact, the only thing that really troubled the left-hander was the cramp that struck when he got down on one knee to sweep one of his many boundaries after he had brought up his half century. That had eased sufficiently for Patandin to celebrate his hundred with a leaping punch of the air as he completed the comfortable single that took him to three figures. His joy, though, was about to end. At the change of over, Guernsey captain Jamie Nussbaumer turned to David Hooper and the decision reaped immediate dividends, thanks to wicketkeeper Martin. His work to whip off the bails after Hooper had sneaked his first ball back past the outside edge while Patandin overbalanced for the briefest of moments was too quick for anyone else in the team to join in with his appeal. But Martin knew he had his man, Patandin suspected as much too, and his suspicion was confirmed with a glance to square leg where the umpire had his finger raised. ‘Knowing that you have Jason behind the stumps is a big plus,’ said Hooper afterwards. ‘I think the guy just twisted his foot slightly and that was all Jason needed ‘That was probably the big game changer.’ It certainly was and, buoyed by that, Guernsey gleefully turned the screw as Suriname subsided from 156 for four when Patandin fell, to 195 all out with three overs to spare. Hooper finished with three wickets, Ellis added another to his tally, while there were two run-outs with Tom Nightingale’s direct hit from cover accounting for Balkaran while the Hooper/ Martin combination got rid of Hirlal after a major mix-up. Earlier, Nussbaumer, taking the new ball for the first time in the tournament, had made the initial break through with Nightingale taking a fine catch diving forward at point. Matt Stokes also struck in his first spell, as did spinners Tim Ravenscroft and Max Ellis, but the overall standard of the bowling was not up to the standards that Guernsey set themselves during the first half of the reply, something which Hooper said was discussed in the huddle after the match. ‘We were looking at our bowling lengths and noticing that the big guy [Patandin] was good outside his off stump and when we got a bit too full on him, he punished us. ‘I thought he batted very well, but people bowled better in their second spell than their first – hitting the top of the stumps is where you wanted to be on that pitch.’

At the start of the day, Suriname had won the toss and decided to bowl, which is what Guernsey would have done, not necessarily due to the conditions, but to give themselves the first chance to chase during the tournament. Lucas Barker came into the side at the top of the order in the place of James Wilkes-Green and the middle order was also shuffled around to give others the chance to bat. As it turned out, Matt Stokes looked as if he was batting on a different wicket to the rest of the top four as he made it look easy, making a run-a-ball 42 while the others struggled to get going.

Stokes, though, was sold down the river by Ollie Newey, who knew almost immediately that his call for a single having hit the ball straight to extra cover was the wrong one, but it was too late and Stokes was well short of his ground. Newey was also run out himself following a mix up with Hooper, but the latter played well for his 55 on his way to the man of the match award having been promoted to five. It was Hooper’s first 50 in WCL. ‘I was a bit nervous knowing that we have the likes of Ferby and Ravo coming behind you – I was just happy that I managed to take my chance. ‘It’s a quality batting line-up and we know that we have guys who can come in anywhere from three to eight.’

Dave Hooper in defensive mood

Ravenscroft looked imperious making 21 from just 10 balls with two sixes and four before he hit a full toss straight to mid-off, while Ferbrache played a much different innings to his one on Tuesday, but his 43 proved vital in the context of the game. Meanwhile, Norway beat the Cayman Islands in a game that went to the final ball to set up a semi-final date with Guernsey. Cayman Islands were left needing 15 off the last over, but could not quite make it.